Story with questions

So, I am talking with a youngster about, among other things, he had only 30 days after being awarded his service-connected disability to apply for life insurance, and said he missed it by two weeks. I urged him to find someone in the system to verify this as it seemed kind of arbritrary. The rest of the conversation, in order, as I recall it:

So, what was your MOS

18 Xray, Special Forces Engineer.

Hmm, I thought SF engineers were Charlies . . . you sure?

Yes, SF Engineer

(I explain what my understanding of an X-ray is, but never having served in the Grand Army of the Republic, I tread lightly, finishing up with "I thought you were designated Engineer, etc. after SFAS and the Q.)

Well, yea, I was selected, but then I pissed hot and was discharged.

Yes, it's different than back in the day. I hear one DUI will screw you.

So, what was your MOS before CMF18?

13(something) field artillery at Ft. Bliss. Two tours in stan and one in Iraq. I didn't do a lot of artillery firing, so I changed to 11B.

So, why don't you just apply for regular life insurance?

I have depleted uranium pellets in my head.

YIKES. That would definitely make you commercially uninsurable, what, you forgot to duck?

No, it's from the artillery range.

I heard that the A-10 uses 30mm DU rounds for AP. Is that what you were firing?

No, all artillery rounds are made from depleted uranium. The M-1 Abrams is made from depleted uranium. If our optics break it is a HAZMAT situation because there is radioactive material in those.

Geez.

I am pretty sure this guy was in, but based on just reading this board I think he was jerkin' me off about his SF connection, SO:

Is true that ALL artillery rounds have DU casings?

Is the Abrams hull DU?

Are the optics really radioactive?

[Richard]

http://www.army-technology.com/projects/abrams/

Most military use of depleted uranium has been as 30 mm caliber and smaller ordnance, primarily the 30 mm PGU-14/B armour-piercing incendiary round from the GAU-8 Avenger cannon of the A-10 Thunderbolt II used by the U.S. Air Force and M230 of the AH-64 Apache Helicopter used by the United States Army.[19] 25 mm DU rounds have been used in the M242 gun mounted on the U.S. Army's Bradley Fighting Vehicle and LAV-AT. The U.S. Marine Corps uses DU in the 25 mm PGU-20 round fired by the GAU-12 Equalizer cannon of the AV-8B Harrier, and also in the 20 mm M197 gun mounted on AH-1 helicopter gunships. The US Navy's Phalanx CIWS's M61 Vulcan gatling gun used 20 mm armor-piercing penetrator rounds with discarding plastic sabots which were made using depleted uranium, later changed to tungsten.

Another use of depleted uranium is in kinetic energy penetrators anti-armor role. Kinetic energy penetrator rounds consist of a long, relatively thin penetrator surrounded by discarding sabot. Two materials lend themselves to penetrator construction: tungsten and depleted uranium, the latter in designated alloys known as staballoys. Staballoys are metal alloys of depleted uranium with a very small proportion of other metals, usually titanium or molybdenum. One formulation has a composition of 99.25 percent by weight of depleted uranium and 0.75 percent by weight of titanium. Another variant can have 3.5 percent by weight of titanium. Staballoys are about twice as dense as lead and are designed for use in kinetic energy penetrator armor-piercing ammunition. The US Army uses DU in an alloy with around 3.5 percent titanium.

DU is used by the U.S. Army in 120 mm or 105 mm cannons employed on the M1 Abrams and M60A3 tanks. The Russian military has used DU ammunition in tank main gun ammunition since the late 1970s, mostly for the 115 mm guns in the T-62 tank and the 125 mm guns in the T-64, T-72, T-80, and T-90 tanks.

Richard

OK, thanks, maybe I heard him wrong.

[The Reaper]

RR:

The kid is eaither a pathological liar, or brain damaged.

I am leaning toward the former.

He probably never served, or if he did, was put out before doing anything, or was a support guy.

Some optics have Tritium, used to make the reticles glow.

No arty rounds that I am aware of have any DU. As noted, AT rounds, like the 30mm A-10 rounds, 25mm Bradley ammo, and the 120mm Tank rounds do.

I would call BS or ignore him.

HTH.

TR

[Eagle5US]

There are many "experts"who work around the M-1'swho tell new folks all sorts of flights of fancy as well.
When we had to interview each person for their medical concerns prior to re-deployment...I cannot count the number of folks who wanted "documented exposure to life threatening levels of radiation" for being M-1 crewmen. With the vehicles that were destroyed...we actually had two Specialists come to the aid station to get "radiation suits and NBC placards before they went near the vehicle.

It may start out as a joke to someone (flight line / bucket of squelch / box of grid squares)...but some of these kids aren't real intelligent when it comes to sorting out truth from fiction.

The remainder of his story sounds pure garbage.

Eagle

[Richard]

"Well, yea, I was selected, but then I pissed hot and was discharged."

Based on the conversation you had with this guy, I would suspect he would still 'piss hot' if he was tested today.

I agree with TR.

Richard

Originally Posted by Richard

Based on the conversation you had with this guy, I would suspect he would still 'piss hot' if he was tested today.Richard

You are VERY . . . perceptive. That's all I can say about that. I doubt he will step to me again. He was really shocked that I knew what CMF stood for. Time at PS is never wasted. Thanks again, all.

[AngelsSix]

You ever watch House?? Everyone lies, and they all love to get on the intenet and look up cool shit to impress chicks with. Some of the idiots I worked with in Kuwait used to try the whole DU crap with me to try and get out of doing the inspections on the tanks that were getting blown up and shipped back......